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Japan Times
LIFE
May 12, 2013

'Beauty' as beheld in Japan through the ages

In July 2006, Shinzo Abe published a book titled 'Utsukushii Kuni e' ('Toward a Beautiful Country'), but what does he mean by 'beautiful country'?
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Aug 26, 2002

Emphasize the beauty for grand objectives

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The best book on the modern Japanese political economy is the late Shigeto Tsuru's "Japan's Capitalism: Creative Defeat and Beyond," published by Cambridge University Press in 1993. Tsuru holds to the great original tradition of economics as a sub-branch of moral philosophy,...
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 14, 2019

A cut above the rest: A new generation of barbers is trying to overcome an image problem

A group of men sporting tattoos and smoking cigarettes chats casually on benches outside Mr. Brothers Cut Club in Tokyo's trendy Harajuku neighborhood.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 28, 2018

Shinzo Fukuhara: Shiseido's patron of beauty

As an artist, Shinzo Fukuhara may not be a household name, but his production of a photography magazine, founding of the Shiseido Gallery and writings on aesthetics were seminal to the development of art photography in Japan.
Japan Times
Features
Sep 18, 2005

Complexities of beauty

The tall, handsome foreigner took a seat next to a Japanese woman. Drinking in her delicate beauty, he leaned over and asked in a gentle voice: "Would you mind if I talk to you?"
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 3, 2006

Japanese beauty doesn't come easily

BEAUTY UP: Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics, by Laura Miller. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006, 256 pp., $21.95 (paper). Beauty is big business. In Japan there are more people working in the beauty business than there are in wedding and funeral services, auto repair and software...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 12, 2020

Shiseido looks to China's online model for post-pandemic growth

Measures to control the virus have melted away social norms like putting on makeup in the morning or spritzing on perfume before a night out.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 2, 2018

In Japanese, finding 'beauty' in plump sheep and toadies

Kanji with ovine roots turns up all over the place in Japanese vocabulary.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Oct 17, 2022

In Japan, body hair removal transcending age and gender boundaries

At the same time, there are also moves to rethink the notion that hairless skin is beautiful.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 1, 2021

Jason Hancock: 'A fully inclusive Japan is barrier-free, judgment-free and full of mutual cultural understanding'

A TV reporter and personality, Jason Hancock founded the Special Beauty Japan pageant to celebrate the talent of special needs youth nationwide.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2014

The Great Beauty

'The Great Beauty" recalls two other films set in Rome: "La Dolce Vita" and "Roman Holiday." The former takes huge bites out of the city's decadence and debauchery in much the same way as "The Great Beauty." The latter takes a mere lick at the pleasures proffered by Rome and declares satisfaction. The...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 14, 2011

For the Greeks, the human body laid bare the divinity of beauty

How many of the artworks being made today will stand the test of time and still be appreciated more than 2,000 years in the future — as the sculptures in "The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece" exhibition are today? I would say almost none, because, rather than seeking beauty, modern artists are more...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 8, 2003

In step with beauty, life and death

Dancer Akiko Motofuji is an institution in her own right. She began studying ballet more than seven decades ago at the age of 3 but -- inspired by the burst of artistic experimentation that swept postwar Japan -- in the 1940s she discarded her points and plunged instead into the world of avant-garde...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 24, 2001

Even a single drop of beauty can ripple the soul

It was about the middle of September, and I was far from home.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jun 18, 2023

Artistic beauty in the eye of a Neolithic beholder

From Neanderthal funeral rites to the temples of the Nara Era, art has been a part of our lives. At what point was beauty considered for its own sake, though?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2021

Bewitching, beguiling and downright disturbing: Unconventional views of beauty in Japanese art

The upcoming exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, presents artwork that pushed the boundaries of how beauty was portrayed from the mid-19th century until around 1930.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 18, 2018

Beauty giant Shiseido snaps up technology startups to draw young shoppers

Shiseido Co., the Japanese firm that sells Laura Mercier cosmetics and Dolce & Gabbana fragrances, sold ¥1 trillion ($9.3 billion) worth of beauty products last year, mostly in traditional stores where customers can sample brands in person.
JAPAN
May 8, 2015

'Beauty salon bully' Yuri Takano steps down as president

A scandal-tainted beauty salon operator in Tokyo has announced that founder and long-running leader Yuri Takano stepped down as president last month but denied the move was related to her contentious management style.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 27, 2009

Dollar beauty may be fading but it still tops currency pageant list

The Group of Eight countries and the outreach participants in the July 8-10 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, discussed promotion of an international currency system that is stable and functions well. But it remains an elusive goal to find concrete ways of reforming the system.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2006

Explore the beauty of stoneware

JAPANESE WOOD-FIRED CERAMICS by Masakazu Kusakabe & Marc Lancet. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause publications, 2005, 320 pp., $44.99 (paper) The art of making ceramics originated in Japan during prehistoric times, and over recent centuries has evolved to rank higher even than painting in the eyes of this country's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 29, 2002

The naked truth about (male) beauty

I'm thinking, as I write this, about beauty. I'm thinking about beauty because I'm flying over Siberia, and below me there is an expanse of softly sculpted white. I'm thinking about beauty because I'm returning from Paris, where I spent the last few days -- ostensibly on a writing assignment, but mostly...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 22, 2001

Tarento find beauty is only cosmetically deep

Tonight at 11:30, TBS's documentary series, "World Heritage," will cover the Hiroshima Peace Dome, which has symbolized the atomic bombing since 1945, when it partially withstood the blast that flattened the entire city around it. The dome has been maintained in its damaged state for 56 years as a monument...
The victory of Ukraine-born Karolina Shiino (center) in the Miss Japan contest held last month has sparked a debate on what makes someone truly Japanese.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 1, 2024

A Ukraine-born beauty queen and what it means to be Japanese

Shiino's Miss Japan victory has ignited a debate on the definition of "Japaneseness," and raises questions on what it truly means to be Japanese.
In the absence of a long-term revitalization strategy, the historic city of Venice will remain on the path to becoming a cultural mausoleum.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2024

Venice’s beauty curse

UNESCO’s World Heritage designation for Venice comprises the city in its entirety, rather than select buildings or neighborhoods.
Beauty salon Dione, which has over 100 branches nationwide, offers hair removal treatments for children as young as 3 years old. It uses hair removal equipment that emits a special light heated to around 38 degrees Celsius, unlike conventional equipment that involves temperatures of 60 to 80 C.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 9, 2025

Hair removal for kids — boosting confidence or preying on insecurities?

Hair removal treatments are increasingly being extended to children as young as three years old in Japan, raising concerns over the risks.
Mao Geping, chairman of Mao Geping Cosmetics Co., gestures during the company's listing ceremony at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2024

China makeup mogul is a billionaire after hot Hong Kong debut

Mao Geping's namesake skincare and cosmetics firm, which listed Tuesday, raised HK$2.3 billion ($300 million) in its initial public offering.
Seoul may be a cosmetic surgery mecca, but Tokyo has its fair share of high-quality clinics as well.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Feb 12, 2024

A wrinkles-and-all guide to cosmetic surgery in Japan

Japan is uniquely positioned between two opposing hot spots of the beauty industry: Seoul and Tokyo.
Shiseido products on display at a Nykaa Luxe store in Mumbai, India, in November
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 15, 2023

Shiseido bets on India growth with first launch in a decade

Japan’s largest cosmetic firm has partnered with Indian retailer Shoppers Stop’s Global SS Beauty Brands and will open 14 stores in New Delhi and Mumbai.
Otono Kuboki, a Japanese Canadian hair stylist for salon chain Sozo, is a key figure in the company's mission to elevate the viability of Japan's hairdressing industry to foreign residents.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 11, 2025

Can an international makeover help Tokyo salons meet foreign demand?

Sozo Education aims to train Tokyo’s next crop of stylists not just in English vocabulary related to hairdressing but in the diverse needs of foreign hair types.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?